On 3/29/21, President Biden extended the National Eviction Moratorium through June 2021
On 3/29/21, President Biden extended the National Eviction Moratorium through June 2021. However, United States Courts are split on whether it is legal for the government to prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who fail to pay the landlords rent that the tenants owe the landlords, without the government paying that rent to the landlords. The legal argument is that the right of landlords to collect rent, per leases, is a property right, which cannot be taken away from landlords by the government, without the government paying the landlords for taking away the landlords’ right to evict nonpaying tenants, as allowed by state law governing evictions. In short, the argument is that the government taking away the landlords’ right to collect rent, without the government paying the landlords the rent, is deprivation of property without due process, which is prohibited by the US Constitution, as well as prohibited by the Constitutions of California and other states.
Millions have fallen behind on their rent, and courts have disagreed on whether the relief is legal.
Millions have been unable to pay some or all of their rent since March 2020.
The Biden administration announced a three-month extension to a national eviction moratorium, to end of June 2021, a move designed to help millions of tenants who have fallen behind on their rent even as courts have disagreed on whether the relief is legal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the eviction moratorium through June 30. It had been set to expire Wednesday.
The moratorium, which originated from an executive order signed by then-President Donald Trump in September, protects tenants who have missed monthly rent payments from being thrown out of their homes if they declare financial hardship.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nation’s public health,” the White House said in a press release Monday. “Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings—like homeless shelters—by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of Covid-19.”
A series of conflicting court rulings have called into question the legality of the moratorium. At least three federal judges—in Tennessee, Ohio and Texas—have ruled the moratorium is unlawful. The Justice Department is appealing those cases. Other judges have rejected challenges to the moratorium. In a December ruling in Louisiana, a federal judge said the CDC had clear legal authority to “take those measures that it deems reasonably necessary to prevent the spread of disease, so long as it determines that the measures taken by any state or local government are insufficient.” That decision followed a similar ruling from Georgia in October.
Other cases are in progress, including one in which Realtors associations and several housing providers are challenging the moratorium in a Washington, D.C., federal court. Monday’s extension comes as the administration seeks to distribute some $46.6 billion in rental assistance authorized by Congress. The aid is being administered by state and local governments, many of which are still setting up their assistance programs.
Millions of renters have been unable to pay some or even all of their rent since March 2020, when the pandemic struck. An analysis by the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, found that the amount of unpaid rent could exceed $52 billion. It estimated that the average household that has fallen behind on rent owed $5,586. [As reported in 3/30/21 Wall Street Journal]